The Sportsman has launched a brand-new series featuring the two things we love most, sport and dogs! We are traveling up and down the country visiting sportsmen, women and their pooches as part of our brand new series: ‘The SportsMan’s Best Friend’.
First up we traveled to Billericay to meet Southend left-back Ben Coker and his Weimaraner, Sergio. Ben has been out for most of the season after tearing his Anterior Cruciate Ligament back in October but is now back in the gym and having spent the majority of his recovery at home with Serg.
The 28-year-old spoke about his love for his ‘best pal’ whilst also talking about Southend’s battle against relegation, his contract situation and the frustration of not being able to play. We learned more about his injury, rehabilitation and his 12-month battle to get back to full fitness once he’d got back from a tough gym session at training.
Southend sacked manager Chris Powell the day before we went to film with Ben and he also revealed how the players were told about the sacking of their gaffer. Kevin Bond is now in charge of the first team and will hope to lead the Shrimpers out of danger this season, with the club dropping into the relegation zone since the time of filming.
Sergio certainly enjoyed our visit as he was presented with a dinosaur toy and challenged to make his way through an assault course tunnel. Ben was having his garden re-done but in future episodes, we will get to see sportsmen take on the full assault course against the clock!
Thanks to Ben for inviting us down and you can watch the first episode in full down below. Keep your eyes peeled for the next episode with an Olympian - coming your way soon.
